(The only beardless band member remained the mustachioed Frank Beard.) The album displayed a strikingly minimalist approach to the ZZ Top sound. Unbeknownst to each other, Hill and Gibbons had both grown out their now-famous beards. ZZ Top reunited in 1979 for live shows and a new album, Degüello, under their new Warner Brothers contract. Manager-producer and overall image-meister Bill Ham used the time to negotiate a recording deal which allowed the band to retain rights to their catalogue on London Records, which would then be distributed by their new label, Warner Bros. The band continued touring extensively in 1976, releasing Tejas and the single "Arrested for Driving While Blind".īy 1977, after hefty touring and recording schedules, ZZ Top drifted into an extended and unplanned hiatus. The album - half studio material and half live document - spawned the infamous hit " Tush" as well as "Heard It on the X", a paean to Mexican border-blaster stations whose call signs began with X. Ī photo of the 1974 crowds was used on the record sleeve of Fandango!, released in 1975. Also on the bill were Santana, Joe Cocker, and Bad Company. Other album cuts like "Waitin' for the Bus" and its immediate follower "Jesus Just Left Chicago" became fan favorites and rock-radio staples.īy September 1974, ZZ Top was drawing tens of thousands to shows such as the Labor Day stadium concert in Austin, dubbed " ZZ Top's First Annual Texas-Size Rompin' Stompin' Barndance and Bar-B-Q". Hombres featured ZZ's classic hit " La Grange," written about the Chicken Ranch, a famous La Grange, Texas bordello (that was also the subject of the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). The resultant third album, Tres Hombres (1973), was the first for which the band gained a million-seller and wide acclaim. They also began recording with engineer Terry Manning at Ardent Studios in Memphis. In January 1973, ZZ Top opened for The Rolling Stones three shows in Hawaii. They signed a contract with London Records their first two albums, ZZ Top's First Album and Rio Grande Mud, were made at Robin Hood Studios in Tyler, Texas. The group played their first show in February, 1970, and toured Texas for several years. Beard suggested his former band mate, "Dusty" Hill and the final lineup of the band was formed. Gibbons invited Frank Beard to join his new group, a blues-rock trio which had recently released their first single (titled "Salt Lick"). The members of ZZ Top had previously played in other Texas-based groups, Gibbons in Moving Sidewalks, and Hill and Beard in American Blues. King was at the "top", they settled on ZZ Top. The band had planned to call themselves Z.Z. However, Gibbons wrote in his autobiography, Rock + Roll Gearhead, that it actually came from blues guitar master B. It has also been claimed as a tribute to blues legend Z. The band's name is often said to be a combination of two popular brands of rolling paper, Zig-Zag and Top. 2 ZZ Top's guitars, cars, and motorcycles.3 ZZ Top's guitars, cars, and motorcycles.recording acts to the Four Tops, whose original lineup remained intact from 1953 until the death of Lawrence Payton in 1997. They allegedly declined, saying "We're too ugly without 'em." ZZ Top is the only major band today whose original lineup has been intact for over 40 years their 41 years together are currently second among major U.S. In 1984, the Gillette Company reportedly offered Gibbons and Hill $1 million each to shave their beards for a television commercial.
Although Gibbons and Hill wear chest-length beards, drummer Beard sports only a trimmed mustache. Gibbons may wear black biker boots and neck chains with beer can openers. Gibbons and Hill wear similar black clothing (usually biker leathers) and various head gear, usually cowboy hats or baseball caps, or bandanas. ZZ Top almost always appear in public wearing sunglasses. while Hill and Beard provide the ultimate rhythm section support." Cub Koda wrote, "As genuine roots musicians, they have few peers Gibbons is one of America's finest blues guitarists working in the hard rock idiom. ZZ Top was inducted by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame during the annual ceremony on March 15, 2004. ZZ Top is ranked number 44 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock." The trio is one of the longest running rock bands to retain the same lineup, and until September 2006 had the same manager, Bill Ham. Its members are Billy Gibbons ( vocals and guitar), Joseph Dusty Hill (vocals, bass, and keyboards), and Frank Beard ( drums and percussion). ZZ Top (pronounced /ˌziːˌziː ˈtɒp/) is an American blues rock trio, formed in 1969 in Houston, Texas.
0 kommentar(er)
